Luca: meaning and UK use

What does Luca mean?

The masculine name Luca is an Italian and Romanian form of Lucas. The source does not support the previous claim that Luca literally means bringer of light.

Language or name family covered

Italian and Romanian form of Lucas

Meaning or derivation

A form of Lucas or Luke

Our browsing group

boy; international, modern

Browsing groups describe our editorial shortlist, not rules about who may use a name. A name can cross languages and genders.

Sources for this entry — reviewed 2026-10-07:

• Behind the Name — Luca

Pronunciation and related forms

LOO-kuh (English)

English respellings are approximate; IPA is labelled where used. Follow the pronunciation a person or family chooses, and check it with a speaker of the intended language if that connection matters to you.

Related forms recorded in the reference: Lucas, Luke, Lucca. These may be full forms, diminutives or forms in another language; they are not necessarily pronounced alike or counted together in statistics.

How popular is Luca?

In 2025, 3,266 baby boys in England and Wales were registered as Luca, making it the 4th most popular boys’ name. That is up 3 places on 2024, when it ranked 7th. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it ranked 53rd, so it has climbed 49 places in a decade. 2025 is its highest ranking in the ONS series, which starts in 1996. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.

2025 rank (boys)

4th

2025 registrations

3,266

Best rank in this series

4th (2025)

Every year from 1996 to 2025

Luca: rank and number of baby boys by year (ONS)

Year	Rank	Babies
2025	4	3,266
2024	7	2,814
2023	7	3,195
2022	12	2,625
2021	28	1,807
2020	45	1,323
2019	49	1,306
2018	51	1,291
2017	55	1,171
2016	52	1,144
2015	53	1,167
2014	58	1,101
2013	60	1,034
2012	61	1,117
2011	64	982
2010	70	953
2009	72	936
2008	74	974
2007	72	999
2006	81	826
2005	83	784
2004	95	586
2003	98	536
2002	104	473
2001	117	374
2000	139	272
1999	179	191
1998	208	152
1997	263	107
1996	300	83

The sum of published counts in this 1996–2025 boys series is 33,589. This is a lower bound where years are suppressed, not the number of living people with the name. A best rank is the best position within this series; it does not establish an all-time record.

Selected hyphenated registrations starting with Luca in 2025: Luca-Jay: 13 (boys); Luca-James: 11 (boys); Luca-Bleu: 10 (boys). This selection includes up to four matching forms with at least ten registrations, not every compound name.

Sources: ONS release, 2025; girls' dataset; boys' dataset. Our 20 top-ten positions were checked against Table 1 in the 2025 workbooks. The history chart and spelling comparisons come from the separate ONS 1996–2025 workbook, checked 7 October 2026. Spelling variants are separate entries. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate statistics.

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Names to compare with Luca

These suggestions share a browsing group and one or more of our style tags or source-context labels. They are taste comparisons, not etymological relatives or a popularity ranking.

• Aaravinternational, modern · Crying, howling or noise
• Finnmodern, international · An Irish form of Fionn
• Kaimodern, international · Sea in the Hawaiian entry
• Raffertymodern, international · Through Rabhartach, meaning flood tide
• Vihaaninternational, modern · Dawn or morning
• Zaynmodern, international · Beauty or grace

Read the UK naming guide for the difference between inspiration lists and official statistics, or return to the full name finder.

Registering or changing the name

Once you decide on Luca, confirm the registration process for your UK nation with the register office. If you later want to change a registered name, the route depends on the circumstances and may require consent from people with parental responsibility.

Start with GOV.UK birth registration or GOV.UK guidance on changing a child’s name. Our registration guide and child name-change guide explain where to find the relevant official process.